In a Zoom meeting of the ‘Ramana Maharshi Foundation UK’ on 29th January 2022 Michael James discusses the meaning and implications of verse 2 of Appaḷa Pāṭṭu:

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சத்சங்க மாகும் பிரண்டை ரசத்தொடு

satsaṅga māhum piraṇḍai rasattoḍu

பதச்சேதம்: சத்சங்கம் ஆகும் பிரண்டை ரசத்தொடு, சம தமம் ஆகின்ற ஜீரகம் மிளகு உடன், உபரதி ஆகும் அவ் உப்போடு, உள்ள நல் வாசனை ஆம் பெருங்காயமும் சேர்த்து, (அப்பளம் இட்டு பாரு; ...)

Padacchēdam (word-separation): sat-saṅgam āhum piraṇḍai rasattoḍu, śama damam āhiṉḏṟa jīrakam miḷahu uḍaṉ, uparati āhum a-vv-uppōḍu, uḷḷa nal vāsaṉai ām peruṅgāyamum sērttu, (appaḷam iṭṭu pāru; …)

English translation: With juice of square-stemmed vine, which is sat-saṅga, with cumin and black pepper, which are śama and dama, and with that salt, which is uparati, mixing asafoetida, which is the good vāsanā in the heart, (making appaḷam, see; …)

Explanatory paraphrase: With juice of square-stemmed vine, which is sat-saṅga [association with what is real (sat), either directly by being self-attentive, or indirectly by dwelling on teachings that repeatedly encourage one to be self-attentive or by lovingly thinking about or being in the company of a jñāni who gives such teachings], with cumin and black pepper, which are [respectively] śama [tranquillity or calmness of mind] and dama [taming, curbing, restraining or subduing the mind by withdrawing it from both external and internal objects], and with that salt, which is uparati [cessation of mental activity by giving up interest in anything other than being self-attentive], mixing [adding or combining] asafoetida, which is the good vāsanā [namely sat-vāsanā, the inclination to know and to be what one actually is] in the heart, [that is, combining and mixing all these supportive ingredients with the main ingredient, namely black gram, the dēhābhimāna or false identification ‘I am this body composed of five sheaths’, which has been broken and pulverised in the hand-mill of jñāna-vicāra] (making appaḷam, see; eating it, put an end to your desire.)

While discussing this second verse of Appaḷa Pāṭṭu Michael discusses the meaning and implications of various other passages from Bhagavan’s writings, including Appaḷa Pāṭṭu, Nāṉ Ār?, Uḷḷadu Nāṟpadu, Āṉma-Viddai, Upadēśa Undiyār, Aruṇācalaramaṇaṉ, the introduction (avatārikai) that he wrote for his Tamil translation of Dṛg-Dṛśya-Vivēka and Śrī Aruṇācala Akṣaramaṇamālai.

This episode can also be watched as a video, 2022-01-29a Ramana Maharshi Foundation UK: Michael James discusses Appaḷa Pāṭṭu verse 2, and a more compressed audio copy in Opus format (which can be listened to in the VLC media player and some other apps) can be downloaded from here.

After discussing this second verse of Appaḷa Pāṭṭu Michael answers questions about this and other aspects of Bhagavan’s teachings, particularly the practice of self-investigation and self-surrender, and this part of the meeting is recorded in a separate episode: Appaḷa Pāṭṭu verse 2 Q&A.